I still can’t help but think we would be better off with 4 in the back. Our defense was awful last year and we lose our best defender so now we put 3 at the back? Doesn’t seem to make much sense to me.

I’d rather see a 3-5-2 with 2 up top and a strong supporting cast.

Toja needs to be in the middle of the pitch. He soldiered on last season after moving from mid to outside but is MUCH more effective in the middle. He could even play one of the wing positions up top as a psuedo-forward, as they will cover a lot of ground and go to the ball to make runs in space. They need not stay outside all the time, that might be the thinking.

The X factor, as I see it, is Rocha, his impact will determine a lot of the personnel decisions. You’d like to have Toja as a MF as his D is great, he breaks up a lot of attacks but is strong going forward. Pablo is definitely a holding or defensive mid so Pablo and Rocha in the middle feeding the top 3 is intriguing.

Will be very interesting to see where Toja and Alvarez land in either the 3-5-2 or 3-4-3.

I still think FCD is a playoff team this year, sure we have some major questions right now but I think we have the answers to the questions already on the roster, it’s just how do the pieces of the puzzle fit together. FCD should have one of the strongest midfields in the league and games are won and lost in MF.

Certainly you would want to have him up front and not running a wing. And Kenny doesn’t seem capable of wing play.

I guess my point is that the 3-4-3 isn’t a given all season and may just be a temporary situation given the current talent — until a better striker can be found.

Teddy, in the above formation Dax this spring has played both right wingback and D-mid.

When I met good legs, I meant that he can run fast.

Yes, he did have a re-ocurring hamstring injury last year.. but I’m not aware of one that dates back to his time in Belgium.. but as Buzz pointed out in his Oct 10 practise report, Yi’s re-occurring muscle injuries (he had back, calf and hamstring injuries last year)pointed to something else – like a structural problem with his hips or back.

In Buzz’s February training report Yi did mention that he had been working on his hips with a physical therapist to correct the problem and that he was feeling much better.

Time will tell if that’s true or not…

All I’ve noticed is that when Alex Yi is fit, he is rarely outpaced by an attacker. I know it takes more than pace to make a good player, but it would be nice to have some nimbleness in our back line.

Did you say that Yi has some good legs on him? He’s had hamstring issues since he came over from Belgium. In fact, i think thats why Genk/Antwerp (?) let him go cuz they couldnt get him on the field for his hamstrings pulling and tearing all the time.

Sorry for the rant but I am tired of everyone forgetting history and thinking Serioux is a better midfielder. Two years ago at Houston he was a very good CB and fairly poor at D-Mid compared to Clarke. Most Houston fans were terrified when Clarke was out for the championship game and Serioux would have to start in his place. I am surprised that no one seems to remeber, including you Buzz, that Serioux played CB for us coming back from injury and just as he was getting his form back he moved to D-mid. It seems much more likely, given his previous playing history, that his improved form at the end of last season had more to injury recovery than his position on the field. Please remeber this in the future.

I thought he played his best paired with Pablo in the middle. So could you see a Rocha/Toja pairing in the middle? And Pablo the odd man out?